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Across the Fence:  Was it here 100 years ago?  |
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farmmilkmama
True Blue Farmgirl
2027 Posts
Amy
Central MN
USA
2027 Posts |
 Posted - Feb 11 2010 : 6:31:41 PM
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This is what I've been asking of my family a lot lately. And they aren't even rollin' their eyes...too much, anyway. ;)
Ever since reading "See You in a Hundred Years", I've been thinking about how life has changed over the last century. I've started focusing on one aspect of life especially - what we eat. Thinking aloud one day, I wondered what would happen if we only ate food items that were around 100 years ago (or before).
Has anyone ever thought about this? I'm trying hard to be really conscious about what I put in my mouth now...was it here 100 years ago? We've done a lot of checking in various food timelines, and have been surprised at what we've found. Things we assumed wouldn't have been around that actually were...and other things that we assumed were here but really weren't.
Thoughts? Do you think you could give up any food product that was "invented" or brought here after the year 1910? Or am I the only "crazy" out there who thinks about things like this?? 
--* FarmMilkMama *--
Farmgirl Sister #1086
Be yourself.
Everyone else is already taken.
-Oscar Wilde
www.wakeupstartlearning.blogspot.com
www.farmfoodmama.blogspot.com |
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melody
True Blue Farmgirl
3324 Posts
Melody
The Great North Woods in the Land of Hiawatha
USA
3324 Posts |
Posted - Feb 11 2010 : 6:46:03 PM
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That is so funny you mentioned what people ate 100 years ago!
Just last night on PBS an interviewer was talking to Mike Nichols and about him immigrating to the US when he was a boy...he said they soon discovered a food that actually crunched when you ate it---he was referring to rice krispies and he also mentioned first tasting Coca-Cola!
It all boils down to (no pun intended) women in the work force I think...I mean who has time to prepare three square meals a day?? That's just my opinion, but I remember mama and EVERYONE having dinner at the table every night; we never if once in a blue moon ate out.
Not so in my house.
I think the obesity problem we are all experiencing in this country directly relates to...FAST FOOD! 
"The best mirror is an old friend."
- George Herbert
Melody
Farmgirl #525
www.melodynotes-melodynotes.blogspot.com
www.lemonverbenasoap.etsy.com
www.longtallsallys.etsy.com |
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Marybeth
True Blue Farmgirl
6418 Posts
Mary Beth
Stanwood
Wa 98292
USA
6418 Posts |
Posted - Feb 11 2010 : 7:15:51 PM
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Also If you think about it before world war 2 most farmers were organic farmers because there were almost no chemicals. And food was seasonal. Remember when having a Turkey at Thanksgiving was the only time you had Turkey and Summer foods were in the summer and springs foods etc. Now because scientists can make shelf life longer we can have Strawberries year round. Of course they don't taste anything like sunripened handpicked right out of the garden Strawberries. And shipping took so long it seemed we ate was was grown in our own state or backyard at least. Most everything was fresh.
I'll stop--I am rambling.
Amy: Good subject
Melody: I saw that show too.
http://www.smallcityscenes.blogspot.com
www.strawberryhillsfarm.blogspot.com
www.day4plus.blogspot.com www.holyhouses-day4plus.blogspot.com
"Life may not be the party we hoped for...but while we are here we might as well dance!" |
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emsmommy5
True Blue Farmgirl
1547 Posts
Angie
Buckley
WA
USA
1547 Posts |
Posted - Feb 11 2010 : 7:35:10 PM
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Haven't thought about it in just that way. But it makes it easier!
Summer tomatoes vs store tomatoes. No comparison! I think sometimes we are so accustomed to crappy tasting food that we don't know something truly great when we taste it!
Do what you love, love what you do. |
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graciegreeneyes
True Blue Farmgirl
3107 Posts
Amy Grace
Rosalia
WA
USA
3107 Posts |
Posted - Feb 11 2010 : 7:48:51 PM
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This is one of the premises of Michael Pollan's book In Defense of Food - that we should only eat food that our grandmothers or great-grandmothers would recognize. If you read a lot of ingredient lists there are things on them that aren't actually identifiable as food - kind of scary. That is one of the things I try to do when I go to the store, the hard part is the busy nights, or the eye-rolling:) from the teenage boy. I am trying to collect fast recipes that rely on real ingredients - my challenge for the year
Amy Grace
Farmgirl #224
"use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without"
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farmmilkmama
True Blue Farmgirl
2027 Posts
Amy
Central MN
USA
2027 Posts |
Posted - Feb 11 2010 : 8:12:34 PM
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I agree Amy Grace, it used to be the thing around our house to say "if you can't pronounce the ingredients, don't eat it!" I'll have to get Pollan's book - sounds like a good read.
I suppose it didn't help that in the midst of reading See You in a Hundred Years, I also saw Food, Inc. That just really drove everything home for me.
As an offshoot, according to the food timelines we looked at, broccoli wasn't grown in the US prior to the 20s, I think. (What?! No broccoli for me?!) Apparently brought over by immigrants. My family says they don't believe it. According to them, vegetables are vegetables and they've always been around. ;)
--* FarmMilkMama *--
Farmgirl Sister #1086
Be yourself.
Everyone else is already taken.
-Oscar Wilde
www.wakeupstartlearning.blogspot.com
www.farmfoodmama.blogspot.com |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22941 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22941 Posts |
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farmmilkmama
True Blue Farmgirl
2027 Posts
Amy
Central MN
USA
2027 Posts |
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Amie C.
True Blue Farmgirl
2099 Posts
Finger Lakes Region
NY
2099 Posts |
Posted - Feb 12 2010 : 06:20:42 AM
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| I've got a cookbook from 1913 and it includes canned products as ingredients. So I don't think 1910 would be a very arduous cutoff point. Freeze dried coffee was around in the 1890s, and I think that would be the biggest hurdle for many people! |
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mscountrygirl
True Blue Farmgirl
552 Posts
Michelle
Lucedale
Mississippi
USA
552 Posts |
Posted - Feb 12 2010 : 06:35:03 AM
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I agree that coffee would be a hurdle for me! I am always mindful of 100 years ago when I look at homes. I have always wanted to live in a house from that era. they have much more character.
It's all good! |
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Candy C.
True Blue Farmgirl
823 Posts
Candy
Mescal
AZ
USA
823 Posts |
Posted - Feb 12 2010 : 06:54:58 AM
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Good topic Amy! I try really hard to only use real ingredients in my cooking/baking. I have stopped buying any prepackaged foods/mixes. DH still buys the occasional store "baked" cookies and his favorite little chocolate covered donuts though! LOL!! There are some things though that I don't think I could do without, as far as seasonal/local, like bananas and orange juice!
Candy C.
Farmgirl Sister #977
Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. |
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farmmilkmama
True Blue Farmgirl
2027 Posts
Amy
Central MN
USA
2027 Posts |
Posted - Feb 12 2010 : 07:26:04 AM
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My mom was discussing this with me one day and said there were two ways to look at this. You could say "Were bananas and oranges around 100 years ago?" and then choose to eat them on the basis of them existing...or "were bananas and oranges available 100 years ago where you live in this current season" and then choose to eat or not eat them, depending on where you live and what time of year it is. Guess it depends on how you look at it and how much of a stickler you want to be.
In any event, microwave pizza, fully cooked and crumbled bacon, and Oreo cookies weren't around 100 years ago. And I guess that's probably the point. ;)
--* FarmMilkMama *--
Farmgirl Sister #1086
Be yourself.
Everyone else is already taken.
-Oscar Wilde
www.wakeupstartlearning.blogspot.com
www.farmfoodmama.blogspot.com |
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graciegreeneyes
True Blue Farmgirl
3107 Posts
Amy Grace
Rosalia
WA
USA
3107 Posts |
Posted - Feb 12 2010 : 8:28:55 PM
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Definitely - I think just being aware of ingredients and trying to do more from scratch is a huge start. As to oranges and bananas - they were around but scarce, they were a huge treat, well, in my part of the country anyway - because they weren't local and were therefore expensive.
Amy Grace
Farmgirl #224
"use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without"
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Annab
True Blue Farmgirl
2900 Posts
Anna
Seagrove
NC
USA
2900 Posts |
Posted - Feb 13 2010 : 03:35:02 AM
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BTW speaking about pre packaged foods vs the "real thing". A dear friend made a real lemon cake from scratch for my birthday. Just for kicks I wanted more and decided to just use a box mix. WOW what a difference! It was so bland I couldn't eat it!
At our house we tend to eat seasonally. Plant by the season, eat or can what we want and wait for the following year. It's tough, but so much healthier and for sure tastier.
i'll never buy store bought tomatoes. Even the hydroponic don't have much flavor
Our only vices are Doritos and store bought pizza. Everything else is made from scratch
Kudos on the if-you-can't pronounce it. Same applies for the pet foods we feed our dog and cats |
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Across the Fence: Was it here 100 years ago? |
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Was it here 100 years ago?
